WHEN THE BEAT DROPS

Self-professed teenage jazz nerd Mira Alden spins into the edgy electronic dance music scene, full of bright lights, booming speakers, dancing crowds…and risky decisions.

When Mira first experiences EDM at a warehouse party in Brooklyn with her older sister, Britt, she is deeply moved; not expecting to like electronic music, she is surprised by her intense, visceral response. But the morals in this warehouse don’t match her family’s fighting-for-middle-class upbringing in suburban Connecticut. Mira has always believed star soccer player Britt to be the favorite within their biracial (white mom, black dad), athletic family. In the shadows, Mira has followed her grandfather’s jazz legacy, aspiring with her best friends to attend an esteemed jazz conservatory in Harlem. When money troubles prevent Mira from attending summer music camp, she embraces the slippery world of EDM, drawing close to her new DJ friend Shay, who is Puerto Rican, and succumbing to the sly charms of the promoter, Derek, who is white. Easy access to drugs in this party scene leads to tragic circumstances. Will Mira be able to maintain her jazz dreams and keep up with this fast-paced culture? It’s sure to be a long summer dance.

Not shying away from the pressures inherent in today’s youth-driven underground music culture, this book stands as a testament to how music within community allows one to discover purpose and possibility against a backdrop of tragedy and tribulation.